Holly Hill gets state OK to add 44 beds

Holly Hill Hospital has won state permission to relocate 44 beds from Dorothea Dix Hospital to its campus.

The move clears a hurdle for privately held Holly Hill to provide service for uninsured, mentally ill patients after Dix closes in 2008. In December, Wake County approved a 10-year deal under which it will give Holly Hill $4 million to $6 million per year for treatment of the patients.

Holly Hill expects the payments to allow it to recoup the $10 million cost of construction over the course of the contract.

The state needed to approve the plans under its Certificate of Need program, which regulates changes and additions to health care facilities.

Wake County had a need to build a new facility after the state announced plans to shut down Dix and another facility in the Granville County town of Butner, cutting out 600 beds from the mental health system. The replacement facility in Butner will add just 432 beds.